I’m looking the most suitable Mac app for Gmail. We utilize Google Workspace, and I’ve encountered a few issues with Apple Mail and our Gmail account since the Tahoe update and the release of iPadOS 26.1. While I understand that I can use the web interface, I prefer a native app whenever possible.
Given that I’m not willing to pay a subscription for a mail app, I’m open to purchasing one. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Try MailMate. The free and paid versions are the same. Just that you have a foot note that says it’s sent from MailMate.
I use the GMail web client and MailMate both. I mostly prefer MailMate.
Hands down it’s Mimestream, but sadly it’s only subscription.
Mimestream could be better. I’m also in year two of a subscription, so clearly it’s pretty darn good!
I never had an issue using Thunderbird with Gmail. And its folders are MBOX files which can be imported by many email clients including Apple Mail.
But I agree with @aardy and @Vincent_Ardern about Mimestream
When I stopped using Microsoft Outlook (Mac version) and switched back to native Mac Mail, I had many problems.
Since I also dropped emails that required Exchange mail server (Microsoft back-end email servers), I moved my personal email to Gmail and my business email to FastMail.
But, sorry for burying the lead, I decided the best way for me to avoid wasting so much time in email (both usage and administering it) was to make it harder to use.
I experimented with only using email through web interfaces for a month and that was two years ago.
Using two different tabs - one for FastMail Web and one for Gmail Web, has made it easier to switch context. Their look so different visually, I don’t get confused between business and personal email.
Their Web UI’s have some advantages and quirks, but the friction of not using native email has really helped me with my “email habit”.
Also, MacMail native still has a few show-stopper features missing for me so going native wouldn’t simplify things enough for me.
I do really enjoy not dealing with local email files/message stores, no backup, and no worries about re-installing email when I upgrade or switch between systems (MacBook, MacStudio, iPad)
I do use “native” email on my iPhone, because all alternatives were not appealing and I mainly do a quick cull or reply, but otherwise do very little email on my iPhone itself.
Not for everyone, I know, but seems to work for me.
This is the right answer. Stop reading and Mimestream, but it’s sub.
IMO the best by far is Superhuman. I know you said you don’t want a sub, and it is $10 a month for educators, but I think this is excellent value as I can process email much faster.
I normally hit inbox zero in 20-30 minutes every day and I receive a lot of emails, when I was on Apple Mail this took at least double the time. The keyboard control on Mac and iPad is unrivaled, you don’t need to touch a mouse. It’s also got good calendar support, as well as snippets and very fast AI.
Spark.
That’s the only one without a subscription that will support Gmail labels properly. I’ve been using it since Sparrow’s demise (anyone remember that?) and then Airmail’s poorly communicated move to subscription (which means some 6-7 years now) and it has been great, with the only major issue being search (it’s not that great and it’s often better to just go to Gmail).
Spark Desktop 3 is now also pretty solid and can be configured much as the legacy Spark 2. Whlle they are some remaining issues Readdle needs to sort out, and while they are pushing AI features (no need to subscribe), it remains a free and a pretty configurable solution for Gmail.
I think Mimestream is the only fireproof solution here. Hands down the best Gmail native implementation I’ve seen. If I had only one subscription to choose from, this would be it.
Of other mail clients, I miss Postbox which was a good Thunderbird adaptation but it was acquired by emClient. Mailmate is extremely powerful and good for power users. Thunderbird is, well, Thunderbird and gets the job done, no fuss. I also see that SmallCubed, creators of some very smart Mail.app extensions in its day, now has its own email client but no idea.
Caveat: given your at this point legendary stalwart stance for default native apps, choosing almost any other email app is going to throw some amount of friction into your overarching system so you might as well live with whatever the problem is between Mail.app and G Suite. I’ve also experienced issues when my email archive was well beyond hundreds of thousands of emails, so I just used the web interface. But apart from that it was mostly fine.
No longer a Gmail user, but until the end, it was Mimestream hands down the best.
I’d love to use Mimestream: it ticks so many boxes.
But there’s one UI feature in Spark which Mimestream lacks, which stops me from switching: the little avatar next to each message in the inbox list which tells me (visually) who the sender is.
I’m using MailMaven and am enjoying it very much. It was discussed here MailSuite Replacement - #26 by Topre
I know this isn’t what you asked for, but I use Gmail with Apple Mail. Whenever I have a problem (mainly with search), I switch to the Gmail app on my iPhone for that specific task. I do that maybe once a week. I don’t know if Google makes an iPad or Mac version of the app, but you could give it a try. It doesn’t cost anything.
I use Kiwi for Gmail, which is a desktop wrapper around Google’s web apps. It’s a pretty cheap subscription, but wraps up everything in Workspace.
+1
At one time I used Mailplane for Gmail, and reserved Apple Mail for my company email. But as Gmail/Google Workspace added features I switched to a browser.
Today I run GW in Chrome on Mac, and Gmail.app on iPad/iPhone, so I can take advantage of how the GW apps work together. Like linking an email to a task with one button.
I’ve just converted all my email out of Apple Mail and into Thunderbird.
It’s handling multiple different gmail workspace accounts easily. I did set it up so I keep a copy of my messages in local folders and clean them off the gmail servers manually monthly.
I also like that it’s not choking at all on my historical email data that is now over 160,000 messages stored locally on my mac that go back 20+ years that I refer to regularly. Apple mail gets flakey at about 15,000 messages
Same here. I’ve tried using mac Mail, Airmail, etc. but I wind up eventually just going back to keeping Gmail open in a browser tab. I pretty much always have a browser open anyway.
I do my part to support the developer community by subscribing to everything (ahem, everything except Apple News +) so that you don’t have to. 
I’ll second and third and fourth all the recommendations for Mimestream.
I use the Gmail app on my iphone and iPad.
Thanks everyone for the helpful replies. I took a look at each (I think I caught them all) of the apps recommended. I’ve concluded that for my purposes, my best approach is to use Gmail on the web on the Mac. This will avoid the frustrating problem I’ve run into with Apple Mail on the Mac after upgrading to Tahoe. Hopefully, Apple will fix the problem with an update.
Thanks again, I genuinely appreciate everyone taking the time to offer alternatives. 